Words of True Love
by Girl59
Summary: Neji is in love with Shikamaru and when they get sent on a mission together will Neji finally confess his feelings to Shikamaru? Could become M in later chapters and this is yaoi. ShikaxNeji please dont complain to me if you do not like it.
1. Chapter 1

*SHIKAMARU*

The wind blew lazily around the incredibly unmotivated ninja. He didn't know why, but lately he had the feeling that someone was watching him. He shrugged it off and stood, fully intending to just walk home. Suddenly an ANBU appeared right frucking beside him and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Hokage has summoned you for a mission," the stealthy ANBU announces.

"Okay Okay. Yeash," Shikamaru sighed and made his way quickly to Tsunade. A he was walking into the very cluttered room he sighed knowing this mission was going to be a long and hard one. He mumbled under his breath then came to stand next to non e other than Neji Hyuga.

"Alright, this mission is of high importance. B-Rank if you're curious. Your job will to be to protect a very high noble in one of the village neighboring the Star Village. The village isn't on many maps for its size but you'll know it when you see it. The young girl that you will be protecting has been targeted for her very unique abilities. It is said she can control other chakra, basically like controlling the other's brain . she can make someone do whatever she wants but she doesn't have full control of her powers yet so it kind of like a hit and miss if she's able to pull it off," Shikamaru inwardly groans. This was going to be troublesome.

"Furthermore you all need to get there as quickly as you can," Tsunade barks at the jounin gathered in the room. Shikamaru finally gets home and packs a bag and prepare for his mission. /they will of course leave at sunset because most of the ninja in this village seem to be nocturnal. The young Nara unfortunately doesn't even have time for a nap before he has to meet Neji, Kiba, and Hinata at the large main gates. He leaves the house that he loves mainly because he gets to be alone, and slowly makes his way to the start of his new ever troublesome mission.

*NEJI*

The long haired boy scoffed at his snoopy cousin.

"Hinata why must you ask me so many questions?" Neji asked the somewhat smaller girl.

"Because! I saw you when he came in! You got so nervous all of a sudden!" Hinata gave him a large grin. "Beides if anyone knows what a crush looks like it is most definitely me. Don't deny it cause I could see you blushing too!" she giggled and left Neji's room to get some things of her own. Neji let out the breath he had been holding. Hinata was the only person who knew. She was the only one he had ever even trusted to tell. He loved his cousin and all but sometimes she was a little to persistent. It wasn't a lie though. Neji did have a crush. A crush on the laziest ninja in the whole village. He didn't however think that Shikamaru thought of boys that way or that anyone would be very accepting of a boy and boy relationship besides Hinata. He gave a small sigh and packed what little things he needed then went off to find his cousin. They would go to the gates together and be early as per Neji's usual. He waited casually outside Hinata's room. The girl finally emerged and they made good pace to meet up with their teammates.

"Neji?" Hinata asked silently.

"Yes?" He asked back, a little wary of his cousin.

"Why don't you ask him out?"

"Because it's absurd to think he would even like me Hinata"

"You should still ask, because you don't know if he does or not. You could do it during the mission!"

"No that is crazy talk."

"I can help!"

"I don't want your help Hinata"

The small girl pouted her bottom lip at Neji. "Neji please? I want to see you happy… I mean you always seem kind of lonely and all… you're family and I want to help."

A small sigh escapes Neji's lips, "Fine, you can assist me. And I'll ask hime out if that makes you happy."Hinata literally jumped at the words and hugged Neji tightly.

"Thank you!" she plastered a large grin on her face.

"One stipulation though Hinata. You have to ask Naruto out when we get back from the mission," Neji gave the girl and evil grin.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed and nearly fainted as Neji chuckled. As Hinata was still blushing miserably they arrived and of course had to wait for all the other slowpoke ninja.

A/N: sorry if anything is misspelled XD just tell me if I'm spelling any of the names and terms wrong or even if I have some info wrong. I hope it was okay as a starter chapter and I plan on taking this story through a lot of chapters soooooo tell me what you think and I'll leave you be for now XD wait I will only say this once for the whole story! I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THEY ARE FROM THE ANIME _**NARUTO**_ AND I ONLY TAKE CREDIT FOR THE STORY LINE IN THIS THINGIE I'M WRITING. I don't want to get in trouble for not mentioning that.


	2. Chapter 2

*NEJI*

Neji could be impatient at times and today was one of them. More like that evening. Actually more like the moment he knew that Shikamaru was the only one not there. Kiba had arrived at the exact time he was supposed to, being annoyingly punctual. But Neji was also nervous for that one person in particular to arrive….. He usually hated being on any kind of mission with Shikamaru, considering the huge crush Neji had procured for him. Neji was so lost in his thoughts that he completely failed to notice when the boy who was occupying almost his every thought finally arrived.

"Why are we still standing around?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"Excuse me?! Why are WE still standing around?! We're the ones who've been waiting for you. Ya lazy piece of-"Kiba was cut off by Neji before the dog boy could even think about finishing his sentence.

"Shut up Kiba and let's get going," Neji said as he slips in between the other two boys. Hinata tentatively follows her older cousin.

"Neji that kind of thing will definitely not win many brownie points. You didn't even tell Shikamaru hello for heaven's sake!" the shy girl whispered harshly to Neji. He just let Hinata's words go in one ear and out the other. Finally she got the clue and fell silent, and the four Konoha ninja traveled in peace. That is until they arrived at the Star village. Neji was appalled at the sight before him; villagers were hectically running back and forth. He glanced at his teammates and saw only confused looks. Then a slightly irritated Shikamaru steps up to a woman shuffling rather quickly with a large stack of paperwork in her arms.

"What's going on exactly?" He asks the woman in a bored tone.

"You haven't heard? Lady Maeko is coming to the Star Village! It's all in effort to keep her safe. She's been attacked constantly and her village has very few ninja to protect the young girl," the woman was speedy with her answer and even quicker to go on with her business. Shikamaru gives an annoyed expression and walks back over to Hinata, Kiba, and Neji.

"So should we wait here for her or should we go and escort her? This 'Lady Maeko' I mean," The lazy boy closes his eyes obviously uninterested in anything that is happening.

"Well the objective is to keep her safe so I think we should go to her," Kiba puts his two cents in.

"Yeah she could be attacked on the way here," Hinata says softly.

"Then we should get going. There's no telling is she is even safe now," Neji points out. Said boy begins walking towards Maeko's small village but only gets a few steps when he gets trampled by a crazy wagon. The driver is yipping and yelling loudly at the horses pulling the small carriage, and suddenly he pulls the reins roughly to stop the horses dead in their tracks.

"Hey! Who are you and what do you think you're doing?!" Kiba exclaims at the crazy carriage's driver. Hinata runs over to Neji and helps him to his feet and questions if he is okay. He just shoos her off with a 'no' and 'thank you Hinata'. Kiba, who is threatening the carriage driver still and waving his fist in the air angrily (which kinda makes him look like a ticked off old man), when he is hit in the head as the carriage door swings open. A petite young girl steps out but trips on her own foot and ends up tumbling out, landing on Kiba. Akamaru growls in agitation at the girl for having landed on his partner. The girl freaks out when she hears Akamaru and shoots up when she realizes the ground is too soft and unflat. Neji and Hinata watch the scene in front of them in awe. Shikamaru on the other hand seems to have fallen asleep next to random a** barrel. After glaring at the stupidly lazy ninja, Hinata gathers her thoughts and rushes over to the two scrambling teens and the aggravated dog.

"We're very sorry ma'am. We didn't mean to bother your um 'peaceful' carriage ride," Hinata gives her the best smile she can put on her face. The other girl crosses her arms at the timid Hyuga.

"You should have watched where you were going," Kiba growls, holding a calmed down Akamaru.

"Well you should have watched where you were walking dog boy! And you ya' pale eyed freak!" the girl bellows at Kiba and Hinata. Kiba becomes instantly irritated again but Hinata on the other hand hangs her head low. She slinks back to Neji and put her head on his shoulder muttering that she isn't a freak and at least she could drive a carriage. Neji glares at the annoying girl now in a heated argument with his teammate. Neji stalks over to the little brat and asks," Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am Maeko Kira," the girl, Maeko, says proudly. Neji sweat drops 'This is the girl we have to protect? This brat?' Neji retreats backwards awkwardly, in a stupor, cursing at this assignment. But he doesn't get far before he trips over the dozing Shikamaru. Shikamaru lets out a grunt as Neji lands on top of him. Neji blushes deeply and fears that his whole body has gone red; Shikamaru just looks at the Hyuga boy. Neji doesn't know how long he is there before he tries to scramble up and of freaking course he slips and just falls again. He thinks he heard Shikamaru give a slight chuckle, he made a mental note to ask Ino to smack him. Shikamaru shifts and hauls himself and Neji to their feet, holding onto Neji a little longer than he really needs to.

Neji groans. Now he had to go fix the newfound hatred between his team and Maeko. God how he hated being team captain.

*SHIKAMARU*

Shikamaru curses himself inwardly; he shouldn't have held the Hyuga like that. No way Neji likes the Nara boy. Neji was most definitely straight as a rod, and there was just no way he would like Shikamaru. Shika is in love. Ever since he saw Neji the day they met. He couldn't get the Hyuga out of his head, with that beautiful long hair and sexy body. Heck he even liked Neji's attitude, which had long since improved from when they first met. He loved Neji in every way and he wanted the beautiful man to be his. He had hoped to reveal his feelings on this mission although now he didn't think he would be able to. He was scared to be rejected. He would be heartbroken if the Hyuga didn't return his love. But he had promised Ino he would make a move though…. So he had to say at least the 'I love you' part. He made a glance at the boy in thoughts and decides he should finally join the large cluster f*** that was his mission right now. 'What a drag' the cloudwatcher thinks. This was going to be a long mission.

A/N: hey sorry all. I know this is short but I'm trying . this is the longest thing I've wrote so I'm really proud! And….. We know they both like each other! Yay. Now I get to make them be very awkward :D lots of blushing moments! And I promise that in the next chapter something big will happen! And I won't post till it's at least 2,000 words XD hope you enjoyed! And I'm terribly sorry if there are any mistakes :/


	3. Chapter 3

*NEJI*

Neji walked carefully over to the two arguing teens and the other who was skulking behind the carriage.

"Hey Kiba calm yourself. Hi Lady Maeko, we're from the Leaf Village. We're going to be guarding you," Neji tried to give his politest smile. The short girl looked up angrily and huffed, "Humph. Why would Konoha send me such terrible ninja?" Everyone except Shikamaru looked at the girl with a face that said 'really?' Maeko gave another sigh, "But I guess that Konoha was very kind to me. They did send me someone." Kiba looked like he was about to give the girl a nice clobbering but Neji gave him a glare and he backed off.

"Please Maeko, we all just got off on the wrong foot. I'm Neji and I will be in charge of this team," Neji smiled again to show that he and his friends weren't all that bad. There was silence where everyone else should be introducing themselves. Neji quickly whipped around to see Kiba, Hinata, and Shikamaru just twiddling their thumbs. Finally Shikamaru caved at Neji's glare, "I'm Shikamru." Neji gave up on the other two and decided to introduce them himself, "That's Kiba and the girl is Hinata." Akamaru yipped in anger that Neji forgot him so Neji quickly added, "And that is Akamaru." Maeko didn't so much as say hi.

"Okay so I guess we should go to where I'm going to be staying while I'm in the Star Village," Maeko spook very unenthusiastically. The Leaf ninja nodded their heads and Maeko began walking away from the carriage she appeared from. They followed quickly behind and Neji made sure to be on his guard the whole time, never letting anything go unnoticed. But nearly ran right into Maeko when she stopped suddenly in front of a sort of house that the Star village had made available for Maeko. Maeko entered the house and didn't even take off the shoes she was wearing. Hinata followed without hestitation but she slipped her shoes off before she stepped into the large house. The three boys looked at each other uneasily but toed off their shoes and quietly followed the girls.

Maeko was already sprawled out on a very nice looking couch, with Hinata standing beside the big doorway. Neji looked around at the beautiful building. There was a huge, open kitchen with a long counter and the kitchen lead right into the dining room. The room he was currently standing it was spacious with comfortable looking furniture dotting main areas. At least there was going to be something good to come of this mission. Neji's gaze wandered over to Shikamaru who was dozing in a chair. He swears that boy could sleep all the time. He so badly wanted to hold the boy. To tell Shikamaru that he loved him. But of course he would never do that in front of company.

"Well you should all get settled in," Maeko said in an exasperated tone. "We're going to be staying for a while." The girl was right. This mission wouldn't be over until Maeko's attackers were comprehended and they had to wait until she had more control over her powers. Neji pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind a meandered down the hallway towards the bedrooms. He chooses a small room out of the many that were there to choose. Neji set his bag down and flopped on the bed. He didn't know how much longer he could go without having Shikamaru be his. There was a soft knock on the door, and Hinata entered cautiously.

"What's wrong Hinata?"

"Oh umm… nothing," Hinata smiled smally. "I just don't think I'm going to be able to handle her…."

"I don't think anyone will be able to Hinata," she chuckled.

"Well we need to get food Neji. There isn't much in the kitchen."

"Okay we-" Neji was cut off by Hinata, "No you and Shikamaru are going to go. Kiba and I will stay here with Maeko." Hinata stuck her tongue out at Neji. Neji gaped at her.

"What? Hinata why?" Neji stammered out at his cousin. Hinata didn't even answer, she only walked out the door to the living area. Neji grumbled under his breath and followed shortly behind. He found Shikamaru putting his shoes on and Neji blushed sharply as he walked over to put his shoes on as well.

"Be safe!" Hinata called at them when she heard the front door open. Kiba just remained in a chair pouting but Akamaru gave a woof. And with that Neji and Shikamaru were off to the market. As they were walking Neji tried his best not to look at his companion. He didn't want Shikamaru seeing the epic blush that was covering his cheeks and warming his face up drastically. Shikamaru Made a noise that sounded a lot like a chuckle and Neji whipped his face around only to find Shikamru staring at him. Neji looked away quickly.

"I know your blushing Neji," Shikamaru said teasingly. Neji didn't say anything. "You know its kinda cute when you blush." Neji's eyes widened 'He thinks I'm cute?'

"Well we gotta get food,' Shikamaru groaned as the two boys came to a large market square with lots of stalls for various things such as food, trinkets, jewelry, and children's toys. Neji oogled for only a few seconds before Shikamaru pulled him towards the first food stall. It went on like that for a couple of blissful hours when the boys finally declared that it had been a very successful food trip. They carried many bags full of apples, noodles, tea, meats, sauces, and so many other foods. They walked slowly back to where everyone was waiting, being slowed down by all the weight of food. Neji kept feeling Shikamaru's gaze on him but every time he looked over the Nara would deny everything. Neji's blush hadn't disappeared since they had left to get food. Neji became disheartened when the big house came into view. He was actually enjoying himself…. But he was on a mission. Hinata greeted the two loaded down teens before they could get to the door. she helped them inside and immediately she began cooking. Shikamaru surprisingly went about helping the Hyuga girl. And Neji, having no cooking talent, simply stayed out of the way of the two shinobi.

Soon there was a simple meal laid out on the table in the dining room. Neji helped to set the table so he didn't feel completely useless. Maeko sat without words and began eating as soon as Hinata said it was time to eat. Kiba and Neji glared at her rudeness but Hinata gave them a small look and sat to eat as well. Hinata was pretty sneaky… She had made sure to get Shikamaru to sit right next to Neji. At this rate Neji was going to die of embarrassment. No one was in a particular talkative mood that evening. Kiba got stuck cleaning up and doing dishes because he hadn't helped before with anything. He was complaining loudly and Maeko silently stood and went to her chosen room. Neji dismissed himself to shower and padded quietly to the shower that was adjacent to his bedroom.

Neji turned the water on and over to hot. He loved taking hot showers because they were so relaxing. He hurriedly stripped off his clothes and snak down in the wonderful water. He sighed contently and let his mind wander.

*SHIKAMARU*

He had hoped to come out to the Hyuga boy soon. He hated waiting for anything, especially love. He could only hope that Neji was a night owl and everyone else was not.

A/N: Sooooooo I'm so sorry that it's not 2,000 words :/ but I am trying! I just need to work it up to the good parts of the story… which will be really soon because I really want to make these two start canoodling :) And I have a question for you all, do you want there to be a pretty heated chapter later on? Anyway thank you all for reading, hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
